The Crown in World War II

In 1936, the British Crown passed to George — the younger brother of Edward VII after Edward's abdication. George, who did not expect to become a king, was a conscientious, dedicated and deeply religious man. His dedication to duty and his country gained him great popularity during World War II.

During this extremely difficult for Britain period George VI developed a close working relationship with Winston Churchill — the wartime British Prime Minister. The victory in this war was celebrated in the Buckingham Palace, which strengthened the link between the King and his people.

In 1948, when Britain seemed to overcome the worst hardships of the post-war years, the King failed to recover from a lung operation. He died in his sleep on February 6, 1952 and was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth.

Task 3. Finish the sentences.

1. Edward VII got the title "the Peacemaker" for ...

2. The role of the monarch in foreign policy was in ...

3. The period of extremism was marked by ...

4. George V changed his family name because ...

5. The war with Germany in 1914 was caused by ...

6. The most important battles in World War I for Britain were ...

7. The war ended after ...

8. After the war the main events in British domestic affairs were ...

9. British foreign policy in the first half of the 20^th century was aimed at...

10. World War II began as a result of...

11. The main allies of Britain in the War were ...

12. The Lend-Lease instituted by the USA gave Britain ...

13. World War II produced a devastating effect on Britain — ...

14. The severest political blow for Britain after World War I was ...

Task 4. Historical consequences. Match two statements from columi A and B into a compound sentence with the conjunction "so".

A	B
1. The Act of Parliament established the dominant role of the House of Commons	a) the most important battles were at sea
2. The early 20th century was dominated by the struggle for power in Europe	b) after the war mass unemployment and industrial decline developed
3. Britain possessed the biggest fleet in the world	c) World War II began
4. The warfare industries employed many people	d) the USA became a superpower
5. Severe damage of economy created favourable conditions for the rise of Nazism	e) World War I began
6. After World War II Britain lost its economic supremacy	f) the power of the House of Lords was severely reduced

Britain in the second half of the 20th century

Task 1. Brainstorming.

1. What were the consequences of World War II for Britain?

2. How was British economy affected?

3. How did the role of Britain in the world change?

The World in the Cold War Period

At the end of World War II the Allies created the United Nations Organisation (UN) to prevent local and global conflicts in the world and to settle international disputes peacefully. Britain was one of only five nations (alongside the USSR, USA, China and France) to have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Though at first the USA, France and Britain wanted to work together with the USSR for the recovery of central Europe, this idea did not work. Europe was divided into two parts — controlled by the capitalist powers and by the socialist power (the USSR). Berlin, the capital of Germany, was also divided into two parts — East Berlin controlled by the USSR and West Berlin. In 1948—1949, the Soviet Union tried to capture West Berlin — all roads to it were blocked, and it was only saved by constant supplies from the west brought by air.

The struggle ended in favour of capitalist powers, but as a result of this struggle two opposite alliances were formed: the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation of the western nations (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact of the eastern block.

The same year, 1949, the Soviet Union successfully tested the atomic bomb; this testing ended the Western monopoly of nuclear weapons. In 1952, Britain became the third nation in the world to test nuclear weapons.

In 1949 and 1950, the world saw new wars and changes — China established a communist regime, which threatened Western powers and allies, the wars of North and South Koreas were also interpreted as a Soviet-inspired diversion. This was the time when World War III seemed imminent. Now the question of the defence became paramount for two world powers. The explosion of British atomic bomb marked the beginning of new weapons delivery — in 1957, the hydrogen (thermonuclear) bomb was tested and came into service. After this event nuclear weapons were proclaimed the cornerstone of Britain's defense policy — it was cheaper than maintain a huge army.

With NATO and Western European Union (WEU) Britain built up the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO) to defend the Middle East against a possible Soviet invasion, in 1954, Britain acceded to another mutual defence agreement, the South Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO). These three alliances — NATO, CETO and SEATO effectively encircled the Soviet Union and China.

By the 1950s, Britain could consider herself one of three world's greatest power (including the USSR and the USA), but after this period Britain was loosing the remnants of power together with the remnants of the dying Empire. Two following cases put an end to Britain's supreme status and showed that now it can't act unilaterally, without prior agreement with the allies.

In 1956, Egypt took the Suez Canal jointly owned by Britain and France thus placing both nations, in dilemma. Britain and France tried to stop this by military actions but were disapproved by their allies (firstly by the USA) and found themselves isolated on the world stage. After a few days of fighting the Anglo-French forces had to withdraw.

In 1974, Britain tried to protect Cyprus, her former colony, from Turkish invasion. Again British military activity was restricted by the world community and her allies.

The Cold War with the Soviet Union was based on the increase of nuclear weapons. It was never popular among the British and since the 1950s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CHD) stated in the country. After the Cold war came to its end at the end of the 1980s, the British government finally reduced the weapons and the armed forces. Today British armed forces have been much reduced, but they still are able to make contributions to international peacekeeping efforts.